PC Gamer recently dispatched Robert Zak to chat with the senior developers behind Deus Ex, in order to mark the 25th anniversary of a true classic. Among the many nuggets are that the initial pitch for the game starred Jake Shooter, supercop, and that the team never really thought that one of the most political games you could imagine was political at all.
The story of Deus Ex's development is also inextricable from one of the most influential figures in 90s game development: John Romero. Romero and fellow id alumnus Tom Hall had founded Ion Storm in Dallas in 1996, and publisher Eidos had basically given the studio a blank cheque. A lot of this money would go on things like penthouse suites and lavish office facilities, but Romero also had an eye for talent: and in 1997 Looking Glass Austin had just laid off much of the team who made Thief.
